Acropolis Discussion

[[Syl]]

As of now, the only Trial entry that will be accepted is Ristra's.

[Menolly]

Just clarifying that saying

[Dread Poet Jethro]

Stretch poetic wings
Explain it more thoroughly
Do it Autarch's way
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Kevin's Watch Best Alt
In two thousand eleven
And two thousand twelve

[Menolly]

Can I help it if I was trying to pull an Avatar and get away with as little as possible?

Here I thought the Autarch might appreciate me being succinct, for once...

(not to mention my horrid attempts at your specialty in posting, DPJ)
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[Aisha]

You kidding? I created time! "There was a time when there was no time. All events happened in the one moment of existence." I put things into layers, and the layers put time into order. Yes, I identify with the past, because I keep a record of it in my bones. It's easy to see the past in the stata of my body. But I don't only identify with it - I created it.

[[Syl]]

If that's the case (I thought you were just taking poetic license with the Timelord bit), I would definitely strike that down. I created time. It's in the Origination thread. I'm just asking you guys to divide it. 'Past' is about as good as you're likely to get.

I admit, reading back over them, I skipped over that part, thinking of the strata instead (and thinking that no one except Ristra told a story. And the representational aspect of it works a lot better. If you could focus more on the 'one thing on top of the other' aspect and make that your focus, I think it would work.

Being succinct is fine, Menolly, but that should not be confused for simply being short. Even for a fantasy setting, glowing wings just don't explain summer.

Always keep in mind that I'm asking you to explain the world. You can borrow or steal from novels or mythology, you can use your knowledge of the natural world (a huge advantage if you can also imagine the world without it), or you can just simply make something up that works for you, even if it only loosely 'makes sense.' I haven't kept this same sig for more than a year for nothing.
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"It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past. Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
-George Steiner

[Orlando]

Ok, I completely rewrote mine. It fit better with my other story.

[Menolly]

Redid my entry as well, although I suspect it still is not what is requested. Is all I got for this one, though.
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[[Syl]]

The deadline was yesterday. I only have two submissions so far.

Due to the underwhelming response to the Trial, I'm going to cancel it. The players who did submit will receive a bonus of some sort in their turn results. I guess time will just work how it usually does. Four seasons, 24 hour days, etc.

There will be another Trial next turn having to do with the afterlife. Please start thinking about it now -- what happens when people die, where souls (if they exist) go, etc. Picture yourself as the god of Heaven, Hell, or whatever and come up with a story about how you came to be such.
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"It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past. Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
-George Steiner

[Goatkiller666]

Um... I've actually been really busy this past week or two. I have some ideas for the trial, but haven't had the time to polish them and post. Nor did I have the time to post my turn on time. (Nor my Prophets turn, for that matter.)

Can you instead extend the Trial deadline? (I'll get my actual turns submitted today, now that I have some time to log in.)
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[stonemaybe]

where's this new trial then Syl? some of need time to think about these things!
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Aglithophile and conniptionist and spectacular moonbow beholder 16Jul11

(:/>

[[Syl]]

Sorry, Goat, I somehow missed your post. I might repost the Trial down the road.

I will put the next Trial up once I process results (expect them sometime on Sunday), but it will be pretty much as I described above. The challenge will be to explain the afterlife in a way that the People will understand and determine a niche in it for yourself.
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"It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past. Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
-George Steiner

[Goatkiller666]

So, I notice that this Trial pretty much calls for competitive explanations of the Afterlife, unless we collude offline and post compatible ones.

Not that that's bad, but it's kind of a difference from past trials. Was that your intent? The winner's description becomes canon?

[[Syl]]

My intent is world-building. I know the mechanics, can provide the framework and outline sketches, but I need you guys to put it together, piece by piece.

And hey, all explanation, all language, is competitive. Every word defines itself against an infinite field by setting out what it is not. Acceptance of this word depends on its ability to claim a place in human thought and find consensus, competing against an infinite number of expressions that could mean the same thing -- the losers assigned to irrelevance or, if very lucky, footnotes in etymology.

You could argue that all expression is evolving towards an ideal, a verisimilitude that mirrors the universe at is. I think that's wishful thinking, though, and I have provided a level playing field accordingly.
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"It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past. Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
-George Steiner

[Goatkiller666]

I guess my comment was more aimed at the logistics of things. I had, perhaps foolishly, felt that once Ristra had claimed Day / Night, it meant I wasn't "allowed" to claim Night. Since that trial wasn't made canonical, my tardiness won't (yet) harm Nyx.

But if I'm changing my approach to include the option of pre-empting what other players write... shit just got real. And by "shit" I mean "this fiction", and by "real" I mean "zero sum for the rest of you".

[[Syl]]

The thing is, mythology is different than religion, much less literature. "Canonical" is a tricky question. An older source may say 'x was caused by y' but a more popular present version may say 'x was caused by z.' This is especially tricky when considering the Greek gods' domains, and that's complicated even more by the Roman overlay. Similarly, many Native American myths share similar characters and events, but due to the nature of tribes, the spread out geography, and so on, they can vary wildly.

That being said, turn results should be considered historical, but everything else is fair game.
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"It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past. Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
-George Steiner

[Dread Poet Jethro]

Although Goat does not
Venture outside of GT
There’s more to the Watch

Most of us came here
Sharing reference frame of
Multiple stories

Each with different
Perspectives on origins
Of that existence

Goat really should read
Covenant Chronicles to
Understand Syl’s trial

Since those books contain
Creation myths that are so
Contradictory

Or Donaldson may
Craft the ending so they are
Complementary

[Goatkiller666]

Yeah, but there's all those weirdos out there, outside of GT.
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[Avatar]

[Menolly]

...not to mention the ones who do frequent GT.
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